Faded Cherry Blossoms
by MissJapain
Summary: After a girl is murdered, she is sent to the Soul Society. While getting used to life as a spirit, she tries to become a soul reaper and has her own adventures along the way.
1. Last Breathe

_**Faded Cherry Blossoms**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the anime Bleach, but I do own this plot and any of my original characters that may be put into this story.**

**Chapter 1,**

**Last Breathe**

* * *

The piercing screams echoed through the forests, almost strong enough to shake the leaves on the trees. A man, tall and thin with short black hair, stood over the still body of a young girl, her face concealed by the trees. The man's face and hands were covered in blood. He smiled evilly at the body. A crazed laugh followed.

A whimpering spirit crouched next to a tree, gazing in fear at the man. A chain stretched from her chest and connected to the girl. The spirit, unsure, confused, and frightened, slowly lifted itself off the ground.

"_I...I don't understand. Am I dead? Did…did he kill me?"_

The man crouched down and lifted up the body, its face slowly revealed by the moonlight. The spirit let out a terrified gasp. It was her body. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I...I am dead." She said, falling to her knees. The man began to walk off with the body, the chain following after it. It tugged on her chest. She clenched her teeth in pain. She picked herself up and tried to run away. The chain pulled harder, yet she still tried to get away. _Snap!_ She landed with a thud on the ground. The chain had snapped in two. She let out a sigh of relief.

"_At least I can get away from here."_

She got to her feet and did the only thing she could think to do. Run.

She made her way into the dark streets of Karakura town. She didn't know where she would go, but she just wanted to get away from where she was. A few hours passed as she traveled the empty streets of the town.

"_I'm so tired. I have to sit down for a little while."_

She walked into an empty warehouse and sat down next to the wall. After taking a quick look around, she leaned back against the wall, which wasn't very comfortable.

"_Why did this have to happen to me? I never did anything to deserve this."_

Suddenly, the loud booming screech of someone, or something, caused the girl to leap to her feet.

"What was that?!"

The building began to shake slightly. The girl ran quickly over to the door and peeked her head out. Her eyes grew wide with fear. A huge monster with a hole in its chest was making its way toward her. The beast let out another scream and then continued to come toward her.

"_What in the world is that thing!?"_

She ran out of the building without thinking and started to run away from the monster. It began getting harder to breathe and she was having trouble running away.

"_I have to get away! Come on legs! Don't give out on me! Not now!"_

The monster started to get closer and closer to her. Franticly, she ran into a dead end. Cornered, she closed her eyes, knowing that these were her final moments, even in death. The monster entered the alley and towered over the spirit. It reached out to grab the spirit and let out another roar. The girl took a deep breathe, tears already starting to drip down her face.

"…" Pure silence.

The girl slowly opened one eye. She still saw the monster, but as she prepared to shut her eyes again, she noticed another being in front of her. It was a boy, in what appeared to be a Shihakusho, with bright orange hair and a huge sword. She glanced up and noticed the boy had blocked the monsters attempt to grab her.

Suddenly, the boy quickly sliced the monsters arm off and then stabbed it directly in the head. The monster, with a final scream of defeat, dissolved into thin air. The girl sat there, stunned by what she had seen. The boy turned to her.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes. I'm o-ok." She was still shaking in fear.

"Good. Glad to hear that. Now, you don't want to have that happen anymore do you?"

She was quick to answer. "No! Never again! Today has been bad enough!"

"Good. I'm going to do something called a Konso on you. It will send you to a place called the Soul Society. You will be much safer there."

She accepted that. "Well, before you send me there, may we at least learn each other's name? So, I can always remember the one who saved me?"

The boy smiled warmly. "Sure. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. What is your name?"

"My name is Sakura Akagi."

* * *

**Hope you liked the first chapter! Please leave a review and tell me how I can improve. I will add other chapters later.**

**Oh and if you didn't know, I named Sakura that for a reason. **

**Sakura = Cherry Blossom**

**Akagi = Red Tree (the red could also be blood on a tree, representing her murder.)**


	2. Arrival

**Chapter 2:**

**Arrival**

* * *

A warm feeling enveloped Sakura's body as Ichigo lifted his sword from her forehead. Her body glowed bright with a blue aura as she slowly sunk into the earth. As the last of Sakura's body faded away, a small, black, swallow-tail butterfly appeared and floated away towards the radiant moon. A contented smile spread across Ichigo's face. He took one last look at the butterfly and then, with a satisfied sigh, took off in the direction of his home.

The butterfly glided over Karakura, still flying straight for the moon. As the butterfly got closer, a circular door appeared in front of it and slowly opened with ease. The butterfly fluttered through the door. A blinding light washed over the butterfly.

"_I wonder what this 'Soul Society' is like. I hope it's a pleasant place."_

The bewildering light cleared and the massive Soul Society could finally be seen in full view. The butterfly began to descend toward the ground. As it landed it slowly changed back into a human form. Sakura rubbed her eyes and glanced around. A sign stood next to a series of houses. Clearly printed on the sign were the words:

"Rukongai's 78th District of South Rukongai:

_Inuzuri or "Hanging Dog""_

Sakura frowned. "That doesn't sound very inviting, but since I have nowhere else to go, this will have to do."

She walked through the heavily populated streets of this district. She was catching a few looks from other people who apparently lived here as well. Sakura suddenly heard a commotion coming from a nearby shop.

"Come back here with that you rotten little brat!"

"Not a chance, old man!"

Sakura pushed her way through the crowd. She noticed a girl, about the same age as Sakura, running away with a medium-sized barrel of food from an obviously angry old man. The man was easily being outrun by this much younger child. That's when the girl tripped and fell. The man slowly caught up to her. Sakura had to help. She leapt from the crowd and tackled the old man, knocking him to the ground.

Sakura turned to the girl. "Hey! Hurry up and get going! Run!"

The girl struggled to her feet and took off running. The old man smacked Sakura off him. She got up and ran after the girl. She caught up with the girl after a few seconds. The old man was charging after the two, determined to get those stolen goods back.

"You rotten kids! You will pay for that!"

The girl ducked into an abandoned house. "In here! Hurry!"

Sakura jumped through the door and quietly shut it back. The footsteps of the old man could be heard as he passed by their hiding place. The two breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for your help. I would've gotten caught if you hadn't helped."

"No problem, but why were you stealing it in the first place?"

The girl let out a heavy sigh. "I'm hungry and have no money for food or drink. Most children who live in this district don't, so we steal food to survive. Well, either that or we catch our own."

"Oh wow. It sounds tough to live in this district."

"It is. I have been here for about three years. This little abandoned house is my home."

"It is? Well it's better than nowhere I suppose. I just arrived here, so I don't know much."

"Well then, I better teach ya the ropes! The name's Mizuki Sayomi. Nice to meet you! What's your name?"

Sakura was a little bewildered. "My name is Sakura Akagi."

"You don't have to act so polite around me you know? Around a captain is a different story, but you can say whatever you want around me."

"A captain? What's that?"

Mizuki was surprised. "Wow, you really are a newbie!"

Mizuki leaned back against the wall of her home and began explaining to Sakura all about captains, soul reapers, zanpakutos, the Seireitei, and everything else she had learned over three years of living in the Soul Society.

"Wow. It sounds very complex."

"It sure is! Once you learn it all, though, it is really hard to forget. You never know, maybe one day you and I will become Soul Reapers too!"

"Maybe we could go to school for it? Didn't you say they had an academy so that you could train to become a Soul Reaper?"

"Yep. I know! Why don't we make a promise right here and now? Promise that we will both go to that academy and become Soul Reapers, no matter what!"

"Sure. It sounds like a lot of hard work, but I'm sure we could do it!"

"Of course we could! Now let's promise to do it! I promise that I will become a Soul Reaper, no matter what! Now it's your turn."

Sakura smiled. "I promise that I will become a Soul Reaper, no matter what!"

The rest of that day, the two girls both talked about the Soul Society and familiarized themselves with all the captains and lieutenants of each of the squads while eating some of the food they had stolen from earlier. Mizuki explained about the different types of fighting styles and any other basic information that Sakura would need to know when she entered the Soul Reaper Academy. After a very long conversation, Mizuki made a bed for each of them and they both went to sleep.

Sakura fell asleep with a smile on her face. "I promise to become a Soul Reaper." She whispered those words to herself right before she fell asleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the second chapter! Please leave a review and let me know how I may improve.**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
